By far the most noteworthy statement that came from this Super Bowl was the one that wasn't made at all.

To my knowledge there was not one Twitter mention, sports radio segment, column or anything of that ilk related to the fact the winning quarterback in the game happened to be a person of color.

How great is that?

If you want to talk about progress, there it is. Not only was it not a topic of conversation before, during or after the Super Bowl, but the truth is I honestly didn't even think about it until an African-American caller to my SiriusXM NFL Radio show brought up the fact that he hadn't heard anything about it. There was a real sense of pride in his voice (and there should be) that we have gotten to this point where it isn't even a blip on our radar screen anymore. How great is that?

Did you think about it? Did it even occur to you?

Keep in mind this is the Super Bowl. It's by far the most covered media event in the United States. Reporters are desperate for any type of storyline, any type of news, anything that might spark interest among fans or separate them from the pack. Even the morning television talk shows are looking for any sort of human interest story, anything that might be broad enough to relate to their viewers, yet the idea that an African-American signal-caller might win the Lombardi Trophy for just the second time in NFL history never even occurred to them.

Awesome.

Compare and contrast that to 26 years ago when the fact a "black" quarterback was starting in the Super Bowl was not only the dominant conversation, it was pretty much the only conversation. The week leading up to Super Bowl XXII between the Washington Redskins and the Broncos was more about Doug Williams and his race than any Super Bowl before or since. He was asked about it ad nauseam and it's still what he is known for today.

It was still a pretty hot topic, in fact, when Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles took on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX back in 2005.

Could McNabb become the second African-American quarterback to win a Super Bowl? Could a "mobile" quarterback actually take his team all the way, as if McNabb was a much bigger running threat than Steve Young was when he led the San Francisco 49ers to a huge Super Bowl victory over the San Diego Chargers 10 years prior.

Even as recently as 2007, the main storyline was the two African-American head coaches squaring off for the right to become the first coach of color to lead his team to a Super Bowl championship. You got the sense that week that it wasn't so much the Indianapolis Colts vs. the Chicago Bears as much as it was Tony Dungy vs. Lovie Smith.

In fairness, it had never happened before and thus it was a big deal and deserved the attention it received. But still, just seven years later and not even a peep about Wilson having a shot to become just the second African-American quarterback to win the Super Bowl and, perhaps more importantly, the first one in 27 years?

It's even more than that. It's the other things that weren't said or written about Wilson leading up to or following the Super Bowl.

Russell Wilson carries himself extremely well. He's a true professional in every sense of the word and it's clear he "gets it", something that not a lot of second-year players really do.

Yet I don't recall one comment being made about Wilson being "well-spoken". I've always thought there was an undertone of surprise when people say things like that about African-American players. As in, "I'm not used to a person like him speaking as eloquently as he does". Maybe it's human nature on some level and likely not intentionally insulting but it is a good sign that nobody said anything like that nonetheless.

There wasn't even nearly as much discussion about Wilson being an "athletic" quarterback as I thought there'd be. There's a large group of people who were quick to point out that, despite the recent success of playmaking quarterbacks like Wilson, Robert Griffin III, Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton, none of them had been able to achieve the ultimate success and win the Super Bowl. They can't say that anymore, yet for some reason I haven't seen or read anything discussing this monumental victory for that style of quarterback.

Truth is, Russell Wilson hasn't gotten nearly enough credit for how well he played in the game. His early third-down conversions allowed the Seahawks to get three offensive scores after the initial safety. I thought he was the MVP of the game.